1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of accessories for stringed musical instruments, and in particular to devices for temporary or long term storage of plectrums.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many stringed musical instruments, such as guitars, bass guitars, mandolins, and banjos, may be played by plucking the strings with an implement properly known as a plectrum. In informal parlance, musicians commonly refer to a plectrum as a "pick", so that term will be used for simplicity and clarity hereafter.
The individual tastes and preferences of musicians have led to a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and designs of picks in ordinary use, but most picks share a few common characteristics. Picks are usually flat, thin pieces of a flexible material with a surface large enough to grasp between the thumb and finger and a pointed shape for contact with the strings of the instrument. The size, shape, and flexibility of the pick are chosen to suit the comfort of the musician and to produce tonal response as desired for the music to be played. Depending upon the instrument, the musical piece to be played, and the particular sound desired, a musician may select from a range of favorite picks, or may forego the use of a pick altogether and use fingers alone to pluck the strings.
A fundamental difficulty with picks arises from their size. Because picks are rarely much larger than a coin, they are very easy to drop, lose, or misplace, and it can be a real nuisance to a musician to keep track of them during and between performances. It can be especially annoying if a pick is to be used intermittently during a performance, because there is no convenient way to stow it while it is not in use, so that it will be readily accessible when needed. No satisfactory solution to this problem has been provided by the prior art.
In the past, musicians had few options for pick storage. Transport cases for instruments such as guitars often contained a simple box in which picks could be placed, but this was of little help. A guitar case is a cumbersome thing which cannot be kept close at hand during a performance without cluttering the stage. Furthermore, a simple box does not keep a preselected pick handy for use, and rummaging around in a box on a darkened stage to locate a pick is extremely awkward. Fumbling in one's pockets for a pick is similarly awkward and unprofessional in appearance.
Some musicians have resorted to wedging a pick through the strings of the instrument itself, in much the same manner that a weaving shuttle is passed over and under strands of thread. While a pick may be placed on an instrument in that fashion if the pick size, string tension, and string spacing permit, the presence of the pick may interfere with normal string motion during play, the forces of the strings may warp the pick, and access may be less quick and convenient than is desirable.
A need exists for a convenient pick holder which will permit rapid, easy access to and replacement of a pick under the conditions imposed by live stage performance, and secure storage during the inevitable travel between engagements.